With pitching workloads increasing, Orioles make a list, and they're checking it twice

Buck Showalter has taken recently to mentioning the lists shared inside the Orioles organization that detail not only pitchers’ innings and pitch counts but also how the club can spread their work out over the season’s final month.

After Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field, the Orioles have 24 games remaining. And while the focus of the last few weeks will be on forming a foundation for the team’s rebuild, and using the innings available to evaluate how certain players fit therein, there’s nothing to indicate that there won’t be a patchwork approach through September.

Take left-hander Josh Rogers, one of the three pitchers acquired from the New York Yankees in the late-July trade of Zach Britton. When Rogers made his major league debut a week ago, there were indications that it might be his final start of the season. But he received another start Monday in Seattle, and pitched well, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings, before being removed after 80 pitches.

“He pitched well, and we’ve got a certain number of innings, to some extent, that we’re going to keep him [to], and he’s not far from that,” Showalter said. “And I wanted to get him out of there on a positive note.”

After the game, Rogers didn’t know whether that would be his final start. He has thrown a combined 150 innings this year, his most of any pro season. And that’s coming off an injury-shortened season in which he threw just 91 2/3 innings after surgery to remove a bone spur from the tip of his elbow. The year before that, Rogers logged 136 1/3 innings.

Browse Orioles photos from the final month of the 2018 season.

“If it is [my final start], it is what it is,” Rogers said. “I had an injury last year. … I’ve logged innings in my career and I feel really good about it, but it is what it is. It’s a learning experience up here. If these two starts are all I’ve got this year, then that’s something I’m thankful for and super happy about.”

Rogers was relieved Monday by right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis, who retired five of the six hitters he faced in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. That Yacabonis was recalled Monday, let alone pitched out of the bullpen, was a surprise. For a while, it appeared he would finish this season, his first as a starting pitcher, with Triple-A Norfolk.

Before the game, Yacabonis said he didn’t know how he’d be used in Seattle, but that his arm still felt strong and fresh despite a career-high 95 1/3 innings. After Monday’s game, Showalter said he wanted to get Yacabonis action because he hadn’t thrown in three days, an indication that the Orioles have no plans to shut him down.

“I thought Yac needed to pitch tonight,” said Showalter, who noted the slight uptick in Yacabonis’s average fastball velocity while pitching in relief (94.3 mph compared with the 93.5 mph averaged entering Monday’s game). “I wanted to get him out there and not let him sit around too long.”

Showalter indicated that it’s not just the team’s younger players who are being closely monitored. Veteran pitchers could also be shut down or skipped over during the Orioles’ final 24 games. Dylan Bundy is still 23 2/3 innings shy of his career-high total set last year, while Andrew Cashner’s innings total is 20 1/3 off last year’s and Alex Cobb is 35 innings short of last year’s total.

With Cashner potentially under team control for two more years, Bundy having three years of team control remaining and Cobb finishing the first year of a four-year deal, all three are part of the Orioles’ foreseeable future.

“Where some of the people who have been here all year are concerned, we’re going to make sure they finish healthy and strong,” Showalter said.

Showalter indicated that the Orioles won’t add to the innings totals of their two top minor league arms, left-handed starter Keegan Akin and right-hander reliever Branden Kline, now that their seasons at Double-A Bowie have concluded.

Showalter also said the Orioles won’t exclusively rely on the innings totals when determining how many more innings pitchers can log this month.

“It’s not purely an inning thing,” Showalter said. “Some of it is what your eyes are telling you and also what you’re being told by people who have been around them all year. But it’s also a good experience for young guys to be around this situation as far as the big league and stuff.”

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The Orioles next Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias meets with the media. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)

The Orioles next Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias meets with the media. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)

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Orioles beat writer Jon Meoli on the Orioles making it official that Mike Elias is the new GM, executive VP. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)

Orioles beat writer Jon Meoli on the Orioles making it official that Mike Elias is the new GM, executive VP. (Kevin Richardson / Baltimore Sun video)